What is the best starter freshwater tropical fish to get?

Question

I have a seventy litre tropical fish tank and I was wondering what the best starter fish would be to get that are cheap and easy to look after.

I want a few fish in the tank and feed them on tropical fish flakes NOT live food.
I want fish that will get along with each other and are brightly coloured and lively.
If you have a answer that doesn't fit this criteria feel free to put it anyway as I am open to all ideas.

I would like a few different types of fish in my tank that get along.

Answer 1

Black mollies or black skirt tetras. Both extremely hardy and you can go two different ways depending on which fish you get.
If you do mollies, know they are liver bearers and you need but get two before you have a tank of 10704750374-107351037415074350743,lol but this fish is so hardy, I used them to even start my saltwater tank (even thought they are freshwater fish, they can be acclimated with ease into a salt, or brackish water environment) and guess who is still living wonderfully well, in my salt tank, lol. 6 of my starter mollies, lol . They have babies and the babies feed the other fish at times, it works out wonderfully.

Black tetras are also a very hardy fish that can go in a newly set up tank. The tetra family is one to truly be desired as it is very colorful and you have all level of swimmers. So you get lots of nice activity in your fish tank.

Both fish will need some extra green in their diet other than the flakes; I give mine zucchini once a week, tied to a rock. They go crazy…

Whatever you do, no matter what fish you start with, don’t fill your tank up, make sure you buy just two, because it’s a new tank, they may not make it until it cycles out.
Enjoy your new hobby!

Answer 2

How about 6-8 Female Bettas? With lots of plants (fake or real) they really stand out like little jewels. You could also add 2-3 small Corydoras as bottom dwellers. Otherwise, Zebra Danios come in all shapes and colors now including a Blue Long-finned variety. They are super easy to raise and are very beautiful. In a 12 gallon tank you could have a school of 5-7 Danios and 2-3 Corydoras.

Answer 3

It depends what your looking for....a community of several species of fish or a single larger fish. Oscars are carnivorous and will aggressively eat tank mates. Although they can eat processed fish food made especially for them the prefer live food. If your not into having to go by feeder fish (usually small gold fish or guppies) to feed to an oscar you might consider a community tank. Some common easy to take care of fish in a community tank would be platies, swordfish, and mollies. These are non aggressive fish that live peacefully together and still gives you a variety of colors to choose from. As with any fish they require being fed daily and maintaining the water quality of their tank, water changes of 25% done every few weeks should be fine. One thing to be sure of is that your new tank cycles before putting a large number of fish in it. Here is a link that explains how to go about cycling your tanks:

http://www.freshwater-aquarium-fish.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=72

Answer 4

Its sounds like you are looking for a community fish tank. You need community fish that are not aggressive. When starting the tank go to your local pet store and pick out some fish that are on sale but that you like the looks of. Neon's, Molly's and platys are all cheap and easy to care for when starting a tank. Unfortunately when starting a tank especially if you are a beginner fish loss is inevitable.

Answer 5

The possibilities are endless, if you look hard enough. There are far too many fish that would be good for a beginner to list here, so I am going to direct you to an excellent online article. It is about the good (and bad) beginners' fish that are commonly available in the hobby. I have read the article, and the infomation featured in it is concise and correct. Please take the time to read through it and consider your posibilities based on the specifications of your own tank.

http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/fish-popular.asp

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

A Molly is a good starter fish because there cheap and they
reproduce fast. To help your fish breed have lots of plants and rocks for them to hide in and for there fry (baby fish) to hide in because the parents will eat them.

Answer 7

If you mean starter fish as in, fish to cycle the tank with, i would definattly recommend Zebra Danios. They're tough little guys and always on the move. I love my long fin zebra danios.

Answer 8

sounds like you might want community fish i like the neons and danios they swim in groups all the time simultaneously pretty cool to watch and they dont get real big pretty and their cheap

Answer 9

Guppy's are your best bet... they are colorfull and playfull,,, cheap and easy to maintain.... you can also get a few neon tetras.....

check out
http://liveaquaria.com

click on fish....then freshwater fish.. .. then fancy guppies....

best wishes

Answer 10

I would suggest a Betta Fish they live for quiet a while and don't even need a air tank. But you can only have one per tank, they are Territorial. As a matter of fact if put side by side they will try to fight through the glass.